Barredo stops Alcala; Ormilla rips Cudiamat

MANILA, Philippines - Second seed Sarah Barredo nipped fancied Malvinne Alcala in a pulsating second-set duel and came away with an inspiring 21-17, 24-22 victory to reach the semifinal round of the women’s Open singles of the P1.5 million Bingo Bonanza National Open badminton tournament at the Rizal Memorial Badminton Center yesterday.

Unranked Gelita Castilo used her experience and skills to outplay young top seed Airah Albo, 21-15, 21-15, in Last 16 phase then thumped Alyssa Geverjuan, 21-13, 21-10, to join Barredo in the Final Four of the centerpiece event of the four-day championship sponsored by Bingo Bonanza and organized by EventKing Corp.

Third seed Pauline Tan rebounded from a poor first set stint and repulsed Annelyn Alba, 10-21, 21-10, 21-14, to seal a semis duel with fellow Allied Victor team mainstay Castilo in the upper half of the draw.

Barredo, on the other hand, will take on Mary Ann Maranon, also of Allied Victor, who shocked fourth ranked Monica Rivera, 21-18, 20-22, 21-13, in another big reversal in the top ranking event sanctioned by the Philippine Badminton Association headed by Vice President Jejomar Binay and sec-gen Rep. Albee Benitez.

Meanwhile, the semifinals in both the women’s and men’s Open will be played today starting at 9 a.m. with Rep. Benitez and Bingo Bonanza’s Al Alonte gracing the formal opening rites at 11 a.m.

R-Jay Ormilla of Smash Pilipinas also pulled off a 21-19, 21-11 upset of No. 2 Kevin Cudiamat to barge into the semis against No. 7 Kevin Dalisay, who also stunned third seed Jayson Oba-ob in a thrilling finish, 21-18, 9-21, 24-22.

While Alcala, the former Aussie and Singapore Junior champion, got the boot, younger brother Mark Alcala stayed on title course in the men’s Open singles, posting his fourth straight-set victory, 21-7, 21-8, over Clarence Filart to set up a semis clash with No. 6 Kenneth Monterubio, who toughened up in the decider to foil Carlo Remo, 21-18, 14-21, 21-15.

Swiss International men’s doubles champion Peter Magnaye and Paul Vivas routed Mike Minuluan and Alem Palmares, 21-10, 21-12, to lead the quarterfinal cast together with the top-seeded pair of Joper Escueta and Ronel Estanislao, who booted out Jaime Junio and Anggy Sepdianto, 21-13, 21-16.

Others in the Final 8 are Paul Gonzales-Prince Monterubio, Carlos Cayanan and Paul Pantig, Patrique Magnaye and John Reyes, Lorenzo Leonardo and Ethan Malelang, JC Clarito and Jan Sotea, and Aries delos Santos and Alvin Morada.